Vehicle pedals with a contacting sensor, such as for example, the vehicle pedal disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,360,882 to Kaijala et al, incorporate a potentiometer structure in the form of a rotor that is coupled to a pedal arm and is adapted for rotation in response to rotation of the pedal arm. Metal electrical contactors on a head of the rotor are adapted for contacting and sliding movement against strips of resistive film in response to the rotation of the pedal arm and the rotor to generate an electrical signal that allows the position of the pedal arm to be determined for controlling the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle.
The present invention is directed to a new rotor structure which prevents the over deflection or bending of the metal contactors on the head of the rotor and loss of contact between the contactors and the resistive film as a result of, for example, a vehicle accident.